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There's a shit-tonne of cool bikes at the 1 Moto show in Portland. This year I think everyone can agree that the calibre of bikes compared to previous years is out the roof. This year, I got to be a close part of one of the bikes coming down to the show hailing from Vancouver, BC. Tory Potoroka does "Dirt First" Garage here in Canada, where he is known to perfectly rebuild old Yamaha's top to bottom. He re-built the engine in my XT500 and has had his hands on the majority of XTs here in Vancouver and around the Province.

For the 1 Moto Show 2016, he decided to rebuild an SR500 that he had been slowly working on over the past 3 years. The Show got Tory's ball rolling and under three months, the engine was re-built, the tank was painted, and the bike was shipped in parts from all over the world to his basement shop in Strathcona.

On Friday morning we cruised the i5 down to Portland. We spent the weekend looking at crazy amounts of rad bikes, but this SR is one of my personal favourites. An old Yamaha at it's finest! Can't wait to see what Tory will mock up for 2017.